Internet Dating Warning After Woman's Murder

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

Ireland's chief of police has urged people using internet dating to be cautious but refused to comment on speculation a woman found murdered at the weekend met her killer online.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callanan said it was too soon for officers leading the investigation into the death of Elaine O'Hara, 36, from Dublin, to be able to confirm the reports.

He said: "The internet is a marvellous creation but I would tell people to know who you are dealing with and know the circumstances surrounding your business on the net."

Police have now formally identified skeletal remains, found by a woman walking her dog near Rathfarnam at the foot of the Dublin mountains last Friday, as those of Ms O'Hara.

She had been missing since August last year and officers are understood to be checking her computer records to ascertain if she had made arrangements to meet someone that night.

Ms O'Hara's body was found at the foot of the Dublin mountains

A key fob from her work, clothing and a phone thought to have belonged to her were found at a second crime scene at Roundwood, County Wicklow, 12 miles away.

Gardai are also trying to establish if handcuffs and leg restraints, which were found in a backpack when the water level dropped in Vartry Reservoir, are linked to her disappearance and death.

Commissioner Callanan said finding the rest of Ms O'Hara's remains was now the priority and vowed that officers would do their utmost to bring inquiries to a successful conclusion.

He acknowledged that this latest case bore similarities to the murders of six women being investigated under Operation Trace, but insisted it was too early to consider any possible link.

Police officers from either side of the Irish border have been meeting in Dundalk, County Louth, to review strategies for dealing with major crime when it connects the two jurisdictions.

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Peru Drugs Accused May Be Jailed In UK

Why Peru Became The Cocaine Hotspot

Updated: 2:26am UK, Sunday 15 September 2013

By Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Peru has overtaken Colombia as the world's leading cocaine producer, according to experts.

Home to the ancient Inca civilisation, Peru is rugged, remote and the ultimate source of the mighty Amazon river.

It is also home to a long-running guerrilla campaign by the leftist Shining Path group.

While urban and coastal inhabitants have benefited greatly from market-focused economic development since the early 1980s, when military rule ended, the rural poor have gained little.

Its hilly, isolated and fertile regions are home to the guerrillas, who rely on cocaine production, hostage-taking and corruption for funds.

According to the CIA, Peru was the world's largest coca leaf producer until 1996, when neighbouring Colombia took the lead.

It says that in 2009 Peru had 100,000 acres under coca leaf production compared to Colombia's 286,000 acres - with the potential to produce 225 metric tons of pure cocaine.

US-supported efforts to reduce or eradicate coca leaf in Colombia have now tipped the scales of production towards Peru.

Aerial spraying of herbicide in Colombia has affected coca crops covering 250,000 acres while manual eradication has been done on another 150,000 acres.

The UN has said Colombia reduced its area under coca cultivation by 25% in 2012 - the biggest annual reduction since the international body began monitoring it in 2001.

Around 30 Britons are now in Peruvian prisons on drug-related convictions, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The UN Office of Drugs and Crime is expected to release its official 2012 Peru coca crop estimate in September.

Its World Drug Report 2011 said that although the area under coca leaf production was around 75% of the 1990 area, the current yield might be up to a third greater.

While Colombia still supplies virtually all of North America's cocaine, the CIA said much of the drug exported from Peru through land, air and sea routes is destined for Europe and other markets.

North America and Europe cocaine consumption has stabilised in recent years while growth has increased in Oceania and Asia Pacific regions.

It said: "Finished cocaine is shipped out from Pacific ports to the international drug market, (while) increasing amounts of base and finished cocaine, however, are being moved to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia for … trans-shipment to Europe and Africa."

Smaller quantities are carried through air routes by so-called drug mules, while larger loads travel by sea to west Africa prior to distribution throughout Europe.

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Foss Lake: Bodies Found In Submerged Cars

The skeletal remains of at least six people have been discovered inside two cars found at the bottom of a lake in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the cars had been found in Foss Lake, near Elk City, during a training session with a new sonar device.

The first was an early 1950s model Chevrolet car that had three bodies inside.

It was initially believed to include a couple who were last seen in Canute in the 1960s and were reportedly on their way to Foss Lake - but were never seen again.

The three teenagers thought to be in one of the vehicles

But it was later suggested the car belonged to Alvi Porter, who went missing 44 years ago when he was 69 years old.

The second car pulled from the lake had three bodies inside, believed to be teenagers reported missing from the Sayre area in 1970.

They could be that of 16-year-old Jimmy Allen Williams, 18-year-old Leah Gail Johnson and 18-year-old Thomas Michael Rios.

The teenagers were reported missing on November 27, 1970, and were last seen riding around Sayre in Jimmy Williams' 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.

Alvi Porter, suspected of owning one of the cars, went missing in 1969

Custer County Sheriff Bruce Peoples told KWEY radio: "It's just been under water for 40 years. It's a mucky mess."

Authorities have not formally identified the bodies.

Debbie McManamman was 13 years old when her grandfather Alvi Porter went missing.

"I remember that green car," she said.

The cars were found by police officers training with sonar devices

"It's sad. I can see his tall, lanky body walking up to the car. He always had a smile on his face.

"It's been very traumatic. I can remember my dad having dreams at night and getting in the car as soon as he finished his day job, taking my mom, and they would look and look and look."

It is thought the car belonged to Mr Porter, prompting new questions as to the identity of the other two bodies.

Mrs McManamman added: "There's a lot of mystery, it's a mystery."

Map shows the lake in Oklahoma

Betsy Randolph, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, said the vehicles were located by dive teams last week.

"So they went back and did a scheduled dive today and were going to recover the cars," she said.

"When they pulled the cars out of the water, the first one that came out they found bones in the car.

"We thought it was just going to be stolen vehicles and that's not what it turned out to be, obviously."

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Mexico Storms: Tourists Evacuate Acapulco

Emergency flights are starting to evacuate some of the 40,000 tourists who have been left stranded at a Mexican holiday resort cut off by floods.

Landslides, rockslides, floodwaters and collapsed bridges severed links to Acapulco after Tropical Storm Manuel hit the coast on Sunday.

Thousands of stranded tourists lined up outside an air force base north of the city to try to get a seat on one of a handful of planes flying to Mexico City.

Families dressed in shorts and sandals stood for up to eight hours outside the base as they waited for a flight.

As well as two passengers planes being used in the evacuation operation, the army has pressed five helicopters and seven cargo aircraft into service.

Acapulco's international airport is swamped by floodwaters

Some flights were also being operated out of the swamped international airport by two of Mexico's largest airlines, Aeromexico and Interjet.

Priority was being given to those with tickets, the elderly and families with young children.

Passengers were being taken directly to the runway from a concert hall which is being used as a shelter and operations centre for the airport.

"We're deciding whether we return by plane or wait for the road to open, but the problem is food," Andres Guerra Gutierrez, a Mexico City resident with 14 family members, said as he waited in line.

Guerrero state's government said 40,000 tourists were stuck in the city, but the head of the local chamber of business owners said reports from hotels indicated the number could be as high as 60,000.

The military is helping with the relief effort

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was aware of the problems being caused to British tourists by the storms.

A statement said: "We are in close contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance to British nationals in the affected area.

"British people who require assistance should contact the British embassy in Mexico City."

David Jefferson Gled, a 28-year-old from Bristol, who teaches English at a private school in Mexico City, said: "It's probably one of the worst holidays I've ever been on.

"It wasn't really a holiday, more of an incarceration."

Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told Radio Formula that 27 people had been killed in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located.

Up to 60,000 tourists are believed to be in Acapulco

Another 20 people have died across the country, many as a result of former hurricane Ingrid, which struck the Gulf coast on Monday.

It is the first time since 1958 that two storms have hit both the country's coasts within 24 hours, according to meteorologists.

Many parts of Acapulco are without water or electricity, with knee-deep floodwaters inside the city's airports.

Federal officials said it could take two more days to open the main road to the city, which was hit by more than 13 landslides during heavy rain, and to bring supplies to the more than 800,000 people in Acapulco.

The US National Hurricane Centre said Manuel was expected to strengthen near resorts at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula.

More than 23,000 people have fled their homes in the state and at least 20 highways and 12 bridges have been damaged.

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North Korea: Kim Jong-Un Visits Waterpark Site

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been pictured inspecting the construction of a waterpark, complete with slides, a wave machine and a restaurant

As he toured the Munsu Swimming Complex complex, which is nearing completion, he praised the quality of the construction work.

"Going round different kinds of slides and wave-rising pool and various other wading pools and different sports rooms in the indoor swimming pool, he praised the builders for ensuring quality in the project as required by the construction methods," state news agency KCNA reported.

"At a restaurant on the balcony on the first floor, he told officials to distribute tables and chairs to be in harmony with the restaurant.

"At the kitchen he instructed officials to provide good cooking utensils to it."

The waterpark is being built by the People's Army and Kim was pictured smiling alongside military officials in uniform.

The park looks set to be built on time

They have been tasked with completing it before the ruling communist party's next anniversary on October 10.

According to the official news agency, a delighted Kim remarked: "The complex is being built by our own efforts, believing in our own strength.

"It is our structure which proves once again that when we are determined to do something, there is nothing impossible".

The North Korean leader is regularly pictured in local media visiting factories and inspecting construction projects like his father before him.

The trip to the waterpark came as the country's nuclear strategist called for new "talks without preconditions" with the group of six powers it has been discussing denuclearisation with for 10 years.

Discussions have been stalled since 2008 when talks broke down due to the inability of parties to agree on how they would verift North Korea was meeting its pledges.

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Greece Strike Amid Anti-Racist Rapper Killing

By Anthee Carassava, in Athens

Thousands of civil servants in Greece have taken to the streets in protest against looming jobs cuts, as a 34-year-old anti-racist hip hop artist was stabbed to death by a neo-Nazi.

Described by politicians and police as one of the worst shows of political violence in decades, the rapper's murder sent shock waves across a country that has seen the extreme-right Golden Dawn party surge in popularity since its election to parliament last year.

Authorities told Sky News that a 45-year-old member of the neo-Nazi party had confessed to the brutal stabbing hours after he was arrested and taken to police headquarters in central Athens.

"We are now conducting police raids at the party's main headquarters in Athens," a senior police official said.

Local media said Pavlos Fyssas - otherwise known as Killah P - was ambushed by a mob of youths dressed in black after an altercation at a football cafe in the working class district of Keratsini, west of the Greek capital.

"As he moved to leave the building the assailant emerged from a crowd, stabbing him twice in the heart," said a senior police officer.

A protester addresses a rally outside the Labour Ministry in Athens

Reports said Fyssas managed to whisper the name of his killer to his girlfriend before being taken to a local hospital, where he died of his wounds.

The attack comes less than a week after teams of around 50 men wielding crowbars and bats set upon a group of communist steel workers as they distributed posters near the port of Perama.

Golden Dawn immediately denied any involvement, but authorities fear the incident will exacerbate an already explosive social situation in Greece.

Police said they were taken urgent security measures to shield protests against Golden Dawn.

High-school students at an anti-government rally in Athens

Meanwhile, more than 9,000 workers, some waving black flags and banners reading "No to firings!", flooded the street in front of parliament in Syntagma Square, the focal point of anti-austerity protests.

It was the first stoppage ever to hit Greece's bloated and costly civil sector.

The 48-hour strike has affected all public services across the country. Schools and courts have closed, while hospitals have been forced to operate with just emergency staff. Trains were due to stop running for four hours.

Journalists suspended industrial action and a media blackout to cover the attack on Fyssas.

Hit hard by the economic crisis, Greece is experiencing a sixth consecutive year of recession which experts fear is fuelling an increase in violence.

The latest strikes, called by the public sector umbrella union ADEDY, come days before the "troika" of European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund lenders visit Athens to check on progress made on promised reforms.

The troika has bailed out Greece to the tune of 240bn euros (£201bn) but has warned it will stop payments unless Athens pushes forward with plans to tackle deep-rooted corruption in the state apparatus.

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Tokyo Resident Loses Second Home To Olympics

Thousands of Tokyo residents celebrated their city's winning bid for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games this month - but for Kohei Jinno, the win means losing his home for a second time.

Mr Jinno and his family were forced to move after Tokyo first won the Olympic Games in 1964, to make room for a new stadium.

Fifty years later, and it has happened again.

"Fate has not been kind to me. It may be great fortune for the nation, but having to leave this place fills me with sadness," he said.

The Kasumigaoka apartment complex is earmarked for demolition

The public housing complex where Mr Jinno lives with his wife is earmarked for demolition in preparation for the Games - as the National Olympic Stadium is redeveloped.

The futuristic stadium designed by Zaha Hadid will seat 80,000 people and will replace the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1964 Games.

Mr Jinno, a tobacconist, ran a shop attached to his house before he was evicted ahead of the 1964 Games.

He lost his business and was forced to wash cars for a living to support his wife and two children.

The National Stadium will be redeveloped for 2020

In 1965 he moved into the municipal housing complex where he lives today and was able to reopen his shop.

But another Olympics means another move.

"It's like they're taking away the most precious thing I have after my family," he said. "Because of the Olympics I'm going to lose the community I love so much, the friends that have kept me going so long.

"In their place I'm getting uncertainty, loneliness and pain."

Kohei Jinno inside his tobacco shop

Mr Jinno, who turns 80 next month, said there are around 200 other families in the same position.

"I wish they wouldn't have the Olympics in Tokyo again," he said. "I can bear getting evicted if it's just the once in a lifetime. But twice? It's ridiculous."

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Ottawa: Train Crashes Into Bus 'Killing Many'

Passengers shouted "Stop! Stop!" as a bus drove through a lowered crossing barrier and on to tracks seconds before it was hit by a train.

Witnesses said that the bus driver appeared to drive straight through the barrier in the middle of the morning rush-hour 12 miles south of the Canadian capital.

The impact ripped off the front of the double-decker bus, killing five people and injuring six others.

The derailed train. Pic: Laura Stone

None of the passengers travelling on the Via Rail train was injured in the crash just outside the suburban train station of Fallowfield at around 8.48am local time, the middle of the morning commute.

Tanner Trepaniere, who was on board the bus, said passengers could see the train bearing down on them as the bus approached the crossing.

She said: "People started screaming, 'Stop, stop!' because they could see the train coming down the track."

Pascal Lolgis, who witnessed the crash, said the bus appeared to drive through a lowered crossing barrier across the Ottawa to Toronto line.

"Boom! It went into the train like that. He just didn't stop."

Another witness, Mark Cogan, said the rail barrier had been down but the bus carried on.

"The train is going through and I was just looking around, just watching things happen. And noticed that in the bus lane, the double-decker bus ... I saw him, and he just kept going.

The bus at the scene of the smash. Pic: Darryl Praill

"I just thought maybe there's a side way around or something, but instantly, he just ... he smoked the train. He went through the guard rail and just hammered the train, and then it was just mayhem."

Chad Mariage, who was on his way to work, was seated toward the back of the bus's second level when the accident happened.

He said: "The impact was pretty severe. People were a screaming on the bus just prior to the crash, he said, adding that the crash 'wasn't a direct hit.'

"We could all see the train coming towards us almost in slow motion. The bus driver hit the brakes but too late."

The train tracks in the area cross both a major city road and a transit line reserved solely for buses.

Transportation Safety Board of Canada spokesman Chris Krepski tells CBC News Network investigation could take as long as a year.

He said: "Obviously we'll let the first responders do their work. Once their work is complete we'll start to take a closer look at the accident scene, document the wreckage, take some photos of the wreckage.

"We'll also take a very close look at the crossing design, what the sightlines were at the crossing, whether or not any kind of warning or protection systems at the crossing were working.

"We'll also examine the data from the locomotive event recorder, similar to a black box on an aircraft, which documents what controls were being used at the time of the crash."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper expressed his condolences in a message on Twitter saying: "Deeply saddened to hear about the bus-train collision in Ottawa this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those involved."

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Syria: Nato Defends Military Strikes Option

Syria: How The Crisis Has Developed

Updated: 11:34am UK, Wednesday 18 September 2013

:: March 2011 - Protesters stage demonstrations in Damascus and security forces in Daraa shoot dead several campaigners, leading to unrest and violence.

:: May - The Syrian military deploys tanks in a bid to quash demonstrations.

:: July 19 - The UK freezes £100m of Syrian assets.

:: August 18 - US President Barack Obama calls on Bashar al Assad to step down. The US freezes all assets of the Syrian government.

:: November 16 - The Free Syrian Army attacks a military base near Damascus.

:: February 4, 2012 - A UN Security Council resolution on Syria is rejected for a second time by Russia and China.

:: March 1 - Government troops seize the Baba Amr district of Homs after an intense battle lasting for several weeks.

:: April 12 - A UN-brokered ceasefire comes into force after fierce fighting in the country.

:: May 23 - Dozens of people, many of them women and children, die in Houla, near Homs. Foreign Secretary William Hague says they were "massacred at the hands of Syrian forces". The UN later accuses the Syrian military of committing war crimes.

:: August - Barack Obama says the use of chemical weapons against civilians would represent the crossing of a "red line".

:: March 6, 2013 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says Britain will provide opposition forces with "non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians".

:: April-May - Britain says there is credible evidence to suggest Syrian forces have used chemical weapons in Adra, Darayya and Saraqiq and calls for an investigation by the UN.

:: April 29 - Syrian prime minister Wael Nader al Halqi survives an assassination attempt as a car bomb explodes in Damascus.

:: May 14 - Footage of a Syrian rebel commander apparently cutting out a soldier's heart is condemned by the country's National Coalition.

:: June 6 - Syrian forces, backed by Hizbollah fighters, recapture the strategic border town of Qusair.

:: June 6 - Human Rights Watch releases footage which it claims shows Syrian troops shelling school buildings.

:: July 25 - The UN says the number of people killed in the civil war has reached 100,000.

:: August 21 - An alleged chemical attack in Damascus kills 1,300 people, according to the opposition. Doctors Without Borders says 335 people died from "neurotoxic" symptoms.

:: August 25 - Foreign Secretary William Hague says a chemical attack by the Syrian government is the only "plausible explanation" for the deaths.

:: August 26 - UN inspectors brave sniper fire to gather "valuable" evidence from one site of the alleged chemical attack, as the US Secretary of State John Kerry says the Assad regime would face action over the "moral obscenity".

:: August 27 - The UK recalls Parliament to hold a vote on August 29 on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. David Cameron and Barack Obama agree there is "no doubt" the Assad regime is responsible for the alleged attack.

:: August 28 - Britain tables a draft UN resolution condemning the alleged attack and "authorising all necessary measures".

:: August 29 - David Cameron is forced to rule out military action after narrowly losing a Commons vote on the principle of intervention.

:: August 31 - President Obama says the US "should take military action" in Syria but confirms he will seek authorisation from Congress before launching any strikes against the Assad regime. He says the US is "prepared to strike whenever we choose".

:: September 2 - a French intelligence reports claims the Assad regime was responsible for a "massive and coordinated" chemical attack in Damascus.

:: September 3 - Israel says it has carried out a joint missile test with the US in the Mediterranean.

:: September 4 - The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approve a draft US resolution authorising the use of military force in Syria. Meanwhile, MPs in France debate whether to join any possible military intervention, although they do not vote on the subject.

:: September 5 - World leaders meet at the G20 summit in Russia, with the crisis in Syria high on the agenda.

:: September 6 - Britain pledges £52m in aid to Syria, as David Cameron hits back at a reported jibe from Russia that Britain is a "small island".

:: September 8 - The RAF sends up two Typhoon jets in Cyprus as warplanes, thought to have come from Syria, enter international airspace. Meanwhile John Kerry says more nations than his country can use are prepared to join military action against Syria.

:: September 9 - Russia urges Syrian President Bashar al Assad to hand over his chemical weapons to avert a US-led military strike on Damascus.

:: September 10 - President Barack Obama delays a Congress vote on air strikes as Russia gives the US its plan for putting Syria's chemical weapons under international contral.

:: September 11 - A UN report confirms at least eight massacres were carried by the Assad regime and one by rebels over the past 18 months.

:: September 12 - Syria formally applies to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. Russia and US hold two days of talks on the issue.

:: September 14 - The US and Russia agree on a giving Syria a deadline of one week to produce a list of chemical weapons they possess. 

:: September 16 - British, French and US foreign ministers meet in Paris and warn "there will be consequences" if Syria fails to abide by the plan to hand over its chemical weapons arsenal.

:: September 18 - Syria hands Russia "new materials" on the Damascus gas attack which it claims implicate rebels. Russia also calls the UN report into the incident "biased" and "politicised".

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Abducted Teen Ayvani: Fresh Appeal By Police

Police searching for a 14-year-old girl abducted during a break-in by two armed men have appealed for more information from the public.

Ayvani Hope Perez was snatched by the pair after they entered through a back door around 2am on Tuesday, officers in Atlanta said.

The men then demanded money and jewellery from her mother, authorities added.

When the woman said she did not have any, they took Ayvani from her home in Ellenwood, Clayton County.

One of the men shot and killed the dog because it was barking.

Sergeant Kevin Hughes from Clayton County police told Sky News: "We're still asking people for information and tips (about missing Ayvani)."

He said the FBI and state officials were among those taking part in the major search for the teenager.

Officers have also told Sky they do not believe the girl knew the suspects and it appeared to be a "random act".

An artist's impression of the two suspects. Pic: Clayton County police

Meanwhile, the suspects have reportedly made a $10,000 (£6,250) ransom demand for her release.

Perez's aunt, Suky Guerrero, said family members were trying to raise the money to secure Ayvani's release, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

And a law enforcement official close to the investigation apparently confirmed the ransom to the newspaper.

But Clayton County police told Sky News they were unaware of the reported ransom until they were contacted by the media and could not confirm it to Sky News.

Ayvani was last seen in a grey car - a Dodge Charger or Chevy Malibu - that the men left in.

The teenager is described as Hispanic, with brown eyes and black hair.

She is described as 4ft 9in tall and weighs about six-and-a-half stone. She was wearing blue and grey Star Wars pyjama bottoms.

Police have been stopping and searching cars and were also using a helicopter in the search.

A child-abduction alert was also issued by authorities on Tuesday.

More than 150 people reportedly gathered in a circle and held hands in prayer at a candlelight vigil on Tuesday evening at Dutchtown High School in Hampton.

Many teenagers there - some of whom held posters with Ayvani's name and pictures of them with her - were her classmates at the school.

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